Aquaculture program at North Butler

Students in Jym Hansen’s Vocational Agriculture class at North Butler are raising Tilapia in the school’s aquaculture program.
     The class has is raising the three main strains of Tilapia, Hawaiian gold, Mozambique blues, and White Nile. Males will grow up to 14 inches and the females will be a little smaller, around 12 inches. Tanks are currently stocked with approximately 300 fish. The males will be harvested for their bigger fillet. The fish fillets will be available for people around town to purchase. The school may serve some fish during lunch as well.
     Water from the tanks will be re-circulated to grow lettuce.
     The aquaponics program was funded by a $10,000 grant from Monsanto. 

Read more in the May 11th Tribune.